Dehradun : Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat, whose government has slipped into minority after nine Congress legislatures defected the party, on Sunday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of murdering democracy by targeting opposition party-ruled state governments one after another.

“The BJP is trying to destabilise state governments using the Centre’s power. They are murdering democracy. Though they talk about cooperative federalism, the BJP is targeting opposition party-ruled state governments one by one, which is encounter of a sort,” said Rawat.

“They first broke the leg of a horse. And now, they are trying to break the leg of Uttarakhand through horse trading,” he added.

The Chief Minister asserted that he would fight for the people of Uttarakhand.

“We have to see whether the destiny of the state will be decided by defection or development, where there will be talks over growth of villages, weaker section, women and the youth,” he said.

“It’s a scheme against the Congress here and I will do every possible thing to protect the state,” he added.

Wishing ‘Happy Holi’ to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rawat said that he would like to tell him to play Holi with colours and not murder democracy.

The Congress Government in Uttarakhand slipped into minority after its nine MLAs rebelled and joined hands with the BJP.

Governor K.K Paul has asked Rawat to prove his majority on the floor of the House by March 28. (ANI)